


Tech Support

by Metal_Chocobo



Category: Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated (TV 2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Technology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 07:41:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7092613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metal_Chocobo/pseuds/Metal_Chocobo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times the Gang needed outside technical help and one time they didn’t.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tech Support

**Author's Note:**

> Technically I suppose this story is set in the world post series. More importantly, Marcie didn't know the gang growing up.

I.

Cola cascaded down over Velma’s shoulder onto her laptop. She screamed, yanking the computer out of her lap, but it had already been well doused. Flipping it over Velma shook the laptop, trying to dislodge as much of the pop as possible. The sooner she dried it off the better the chance her computer wasn’t completely fried.

“Like, I’m so sorry, Velma,” Shaggy apologized. “I just wanted to see what you were working on and my hand must have slipped when I leaned to look over your shoulder.”

“I don’t care, Shaggy. Get me towels,” Velma snapped. She could see the graph for her thesis she had just spent the last two hours working on with all its relevant data upside down on the screen. With rising panic she unplugged her laptop, saved her work, and then shutdown the computer. She hoped it would turn on again.

“Here,” Shaggy said, thrusting a roll of paper towels in her face.

She ripped off a hunk and started patting down the keyboard. Some of the liquid had dribbled down over her screen, so she briefly swabbed that as well, but Velma’s main focus was on the keyboard. Somewhere under it was her computer’s hard drive and everything that made her computer function. 

It was true that her Quest computer was old, previously belonging to her father before Velma left for college, but she couldn’t afford a new one. More importantly, the most up to date version of her senior thesis was locked on this hard drive. Sure, she had back ups, both in her email and on a couple of flash drives—and her external hard drive had everything from her computer as of last month—but that wouldn’t have anything new from today. She had been on a roll with the intent to save multiple copies when she finished. If her laptop was toast, she’d lost six pages of her introduction (with citations), two almost complete, pain in the ass graphs, and half a dozen minor grammatical corrections.

Velma was going to kill him.

Before Velma could carry out her homicidal impulse Fred and Daphne arrived. Shaggy and Scooby ran for cover behind the pair, though at first Daphne thought they had come for the takeout in her hands.

“Oh come on guys, you can wait for dinner until we get the movie started,” Daphne admonished, trying to keep the bags out of their reach. When they didn’t give chase and instead simply cowered she blinked in surprise. “Guys? What’s wrong?”

“Shaggy wrecked my computer,” Velma explained.

“It was like totally an accident! I swear!” Shaggy insisted, clutching Scooby as he shook.

“Don’t kill us,” Scooby begged.

“Oh Scooby, I’m not going to kill you. You weren’t involved. Shaggy’s the only one in mortal peril,” Velma promised. Both boy and dog started crying.

“Can’t you fix it, Velma?” Fred asked, frowning. “I thought you could do just about anything.”

“I’m fairly decent at using a computer to sniff out information online, but I don’t know how to fix them,” Velma explained. “That’s a completely different skill set.”

“Then why don’t you take it to Miskatonic University’s IT? They’ve got a tech shop on the other side of campus that’s open late and someone there could probably fix your computer.”

“That’s… a brilliant idea, Fred. How did you know they’re still open?”

“Oh I buy cable and all sorts of things from them all the time. Mostly for traps, but a few bells and whistles for the Mystery Machine as well.”

“I hope you don’t mean literal bells and whistles,” Daphne said, aware of some of Fred’s previous modifications.

“Come on, Velma, I’ll give you a ride over,” Fred offered.

After a quick call to schedule an appointment Velma gingerly packed her laptop into her messenger bag with a layer of paper towel pressed against the keyboard. She didn’t talk on the ride over, instead content to listen to Fred muse over his next trap design. When they arrived Fred pointed her to the back of the store, which is where he said the repairs happened.

Upon reaching the back of the shop she found a lady impatiently checking her watch. As soon as she spotted Velma the woman sat up straighter, adjusted her glasses, and held out a hand. Velma gripped her messenger bag a little harder. She didn’t like the bored, but vaguely annoyed expression on the tech’s face. She wasn’t the one who had wrecked her computer.

“You’re my seven-thirty, right?” she drawled. Velma nodded. “Then hand it over.”

“I tried to dry it off as best I could, but I knew needed expert help,” Velma began. “My roommate spilled his coke all over my laptop while I was working on my thesis.”

“Your thesis?” Marcie barked, almost dropping Velma’s bag. Velma lunged forward, grabbing the bottom of the bag to act as additional support. “Please tell me you have back ups somewhere.”

“Of course. I’m not an idiot,” Velma snapped, feeling rather offended. A moment later she felt guilty for snapped because not everything was backed up. “However, I put in about ten hours of productive work on it today and that’s only on this computer.”

“Good. I mean, losing a day’s worth of work would be terrible, but at this point in the semester I imagine you’ve put in a lot more than a day’s worth of work on your thesis.”

“I have.”

“Generally, there’s nothing we can do for extensive liquid damage, but I can take a look.” She opened the messenger bag and pulled out the laptop. Then she just stared at it like she had never seen a computer before. Velma moved forward, worried about what sort of staffing Miskatonic University employed. “I can’t remember the last time Quests had black casings. This thing must be ancient!”

“It’s six years old.”

“Lady, this is a lost cause. You’d be better off buying a new computer and writing this one off. Even if I get it up and running again, which is a big maybe, it’ll only limp on for a few more months. Tops.” She frowned as she watched Velma’s face fall. “Trying to revive this thing is just throwing good money away. The corporation announced last week they’re no longer supporting this operating system.”

“I can’t afford a new computer,” Velma said. “My parents said they’d be able to meet me halfway on a new one when I graduated, or even pay for a new Destroido computer—”

“—We sell a lot of cheap basic models from Destroido.”

“But those things pick up viruses the moment you go online with them and I’m not only bad about keeping vigilant about malware—which is not an issue for Quests—but I can’t deal with learning a brand new operating system right now. Not two months before graduation.”

“What’s your thesis on?”

“In a nutshell, it’s on the biomechanics of animal movement in select species,” Velma explained. “Specially, I’m comparing dogs, bats, and horses. It’s not exactly what I thought I’d be researching, but it’s my thesis advisor’s main focus, so there you go. At least I’m enjoying it.”

“Impressive,” she said, smiling at Velma for the first time. Well, at least she wasn’t there for the customer service. “Tell you what, I’m going to take this in back and open it right now. That way you’ll know immediately if there’s nothing I can do. Otherwise I’ll put a rush job on it and hopefully have something for you by tomorrow night. Okay?”

“Thanks,” Velma responded glumly.

The woman smiled at her one last time then disappeared into the back of the shop. From the way she spoke Velma assumed she’d be back within five or ten minutes after a quick analysis. Instead she was gone long enough that Fred came by and said he had to head back to the house, but he’d come back later to pick her up. Velma waved him off. Neither of them had eaten and they didn’t both need to suffer during her vigil. Then, just as the clerk at the front of the store made a ten-minute closing announcement the woman returned. She’d been gone for over an hour.

“Good news, I got it running,” she beamed. She handed the laptop back to Velma, which happily displayed her Hex Girls background. “Your roommate hadn’t doused the computer half as badly as the discoloration on the keyboard suggested.”

“Jinkies, that’s amazing!” Velma laughed.

“I’d say your quick drying actions are what saved it. However, while I got it working now, I can’t say how long it will last. It might die for good tomorrow or it might last a year, though the latter seems highly unlikely.” She held out a flash drive. “I also found the folder marked ‘Senior Thesis’ and copied the whole thing onto here. That way if my prognosis is even worse than predicted you should still have a copy of today’s work.”

“Thank you so much,” Velma said, accepting the flash drive. “How can I repay you?”

“I’m just doing my job. Standard repair fees apply,” she shrugged. “If you do need to replace that antique before the end of the semester come back and look me up. Name’s Marcie Fleach. My employee discount is significantly better than the student discount.”

“You’ve proven that mathematically?” Velma smirked.

“It’s noticeably better,” Marcie said, rolling her eyes, but she was grinning at Velma.

“Velma Dinkley,” Velma replied. They shook hands. “If you ever run into a mystery, my roommates and I are pretty good at solving them.”

“Noted.”

The clerk at the front announced that they were closed, which was Velma’s cue to check out. The moment she had paid he pushed her out the door, so she was unable to properly say goodbye to Marcie. She had seemed like a cool lady and Velma would have liked talking with her longer, perhaps even get a coffee or exchange numbers. However, any moping she might have done over missing out on making a new friend had to wait because Velma noticed Fred waiting for her.

That evening when Velma opened her laptop again in her own room it was still on and functioning. Even more importantly, as far as she could tell, nothing had been deleted or corroded from the dousing. Marcie had come through. Velma fully backed up everything on her computer. Then she made multiple copies of her thesis onto three other flash drives, emailed it to her mom and copies to both of her own non-school email accounts.

II.

“I don’t feel so good,” Scooby whined. When no one reacted he twitched a paw and whimpered.

“Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me four times… like, I don’t actually know what that would be, but I’m not giving you this sandwich,” Shaggy said. He took a large bite out of the hoagie. “I’ve gotta eat too, Scoob.”

Scooby let out a long groan. Velma shut her book, got up from the couch, and sat down on the rug next to the distressed Great Dane. If she didn’t do something about him he’d spend the rest of the night complaining. Then she’d never finish her book.

“What’s wrong, Scooby?” Velma asked.

“My tummy hurts.”

“You big baby,” Velma sighed. Still, she reached down and began rubbing up and down Scooby’s belly. “You probably overate again.”

“No,” Scooby protested weakly.

Velma rolled her eyes, but didn’t argue. Even if Scooby could talk, he was still a dog and it was impossible to ever convince a dog he shouldn’t have eaten something. The rubbing did seem to make Scooby better and every time Velma tried to stop he started whimpering again. She should have brought her book down with her.

Suddenly Scooby rolled over and started heaving. Velma groaned internally because she knew what was coming. No one else was close enough to intervene in time. The moment Scooby regurgitated Velma grabbed his jaw at the hinges and pried them open before he could re-swallow whatever it was. There was a struggle, which Velma eventually won, and a large gooey chunk hit the floor.

Scooby immediately started wagging his tail. He leaped to his feet and hopped over to Shaggy. More specifically, he was nosing about Shaggy’s sandwich in an attempt to steal it. Obviously, he must feel better. Dogs were so resilient.

“Eww Scooby!” Daphne admonished. She left the room then returned with a roll of paper towels, which she tossed to Velma.

Sighing Velma tore off a few and picked up the thing Scooby horked. It was hard and shiny, which made her pause. It didn’t look like something Scooby would have thought was food. She wiped a bit of the thing clean then shouted because it was a circuit board. After an investigation it was determined that Scooby had eaten Velma’s external hard drive. While her thesis was backed up in multiple places, nothing else was, which meant that if her limping along laptop died before she got another hard drive, she’d lose something like 90% of her digital life; Velma didn’t trust the cloud. She needed a new external hard drive ASAP. 

So the next morning before class Velma raced across campus to the tech store. She hoped to find something that would work with her aged computer. She really didn’t want to look online for a replacement since used tech of unknown origin always made her cringe. Also, she didn’t really trust her computer to last long enough for something to ship to her without a viable back up.

Luckily, the shop had already opened. The place was empty save for a thick tough looking guy at the counter reading a magazine. Velma made a beeline for him. She hoped he could check the store inventory to see if they sold the same hard drive Scooby ate, a similar model, or if he could at least tell her which aisle they kept such products. When she reached the counter he didn’t look up from his copy of Traps Illustrated. She checked her watch; she didn’t have time to wait for him to finish.

“Excuse me, can I get some help?” Velma asked.

He set his magazine down and looked her over. Snorting, Red—if his nametag was to be believed—deemed Velma unworthy of help and turned his attention back to his magazine without a word. She stared at him for a moment in shock and then stomped into the aisles fuming. How dare he dismiss her on looks alone. If she were pretty like Daphne he’d be bending over backwards trying to assist her. This was terrible customer service and if he wasn’t polite during check out Velma was complaining to his manager.

Eventually Velma found the right section. She scanned it twice before feeling her temper flare again. They were external hard drives, but they all connected to computers via systems she had never heard of before. She was certain her system couldn’t support any of them, which made all of them completely useless.

“It’s Velma isn’t is?” Velma turned to see Marcie walking toward her.

“Hey Marcie, good to see you again.” Velma smiled as Marcie came to a stop next to her.

“Likewise. So what are you here for?” Marcie asked.

“A new external hard drive that will work with my ancient computer. Scooby, our Great Dane, chewed up my old one and with my laptop I need a replacement immediately.”

“Gotcha.”

“I’ve been looking over the options, but none of these look like they’ll work with my computer. They’re all this Firewire 2.0 crap, which isn’t something my computer has.”

“Yeah, the University doesn’t like ordering backwards compatible stuff, despite the fact a lot of kids come with hand me down computers like you.” They stared at the selection for a moment then Marcie snapped her fingers. “I think I’ve got a solution in back. Wait here.”

Before Velma could protest Marcie ran to the backroom. Luckily, she wasn’t gone anywhere near as long as last time. When she returned she held an external hard drive that turned out to be the same model as the one Scooby destroyed.

“Jinkies, this is perfect,” Velma said. “Can you actually sell it to me?”

“Nope, it’s free. University mandates we replace all the computers and equipment every four years, which means if they noticed this was still here they’d just toss it. I’m a bit of a pack rat, so try to keep a few items that might come in handy from the trash bin.”

“Well, I’m delighted you kept this,” Velma said. “I’ve got class in a few minutes, but would you like to get coffee this afternoon?”

Before Marcie could respond Red noticed their earnest conversation and shouted, “Hey, Hot Dog Water, aren’t you late for class?”

Marcie turned bright red, roughly the color of Red’s hair, bowed down, and rushed out of the shop without another word. Velma scowled at the clerk as he snickered at Marcie’s embarrassment. She quietly pocketed Marcie’s gift then headed over to the cash register. Red gave her another dismissive leer. However, Velma ignored it in favor of pulling an energy drink out of the refrigerator unit next to him and set it on the counter.

“That’ll be $1.75,” he said, turning back to his magazine before he even properly handed over her change.

Velma pocketed the quarter. She cracked open the can, leaned forward, and poured the energy drink over Red’s head. He spluttered and flailed a little, which got the liquid all over the crotch of his pants before he fell off his stool. Before he could get up Velma walked out of the store taking the remnants of her drink with her. That probably didn’t teach Red to treat women he didn’t find attractive nicer, but it sure made Velma feel better. It’d probably make Marcie smile when she heard about it as well.

III.

“Oh shoot, my phone’s dead,” Daphne said. She stuffed it back into her purse with a sigh. “That’s the third time this week it’s done that.”

“Maybe you should invest in a portable charger,” Velma suggested.

“I’ve got one, but it doesn’t seem to do any good. Even leaving it plugged in overnight and trying different cords doesn’t result in a full battery anymore. Something’s wrong with the phone itself.”

“Then let’s take it to the tech shop. I think they’re approved to fix your brand and they’ve got a really competent lady on staff.”

“Is there now?” 

“She’s helped me out of a couple technical jams. Marcie could probably fix this for you as well.”

“She must be something special if you’re calling her competent and admitted she can fix things you can’t,” Daphne teased. Velma shrugged, refusing to be embarrassed by Daphne’s tone. After all, there was nothing to be embarrassed about, as she was reading into nothing.

“I simply recognize my limitations and seek help expertise assistance when needed.”

“Sure Velma, whatever helps you sleep,” Daphne laughed. She stood and tossed her empty latte cup. “Come on, let’s go see your tech girl.”

Velma rolled her eyes, but let the way. As soon as they reached the store Velma waved Daphne in and told her to ask for Marcie Fleach. Daphne went in, but immediately came back to the shop’s doorway when Velma didn’t follow her.

“Well, aren’t you coming in?” Daphne demanded.

“No, I think I might be banned.”

“Seriously? Why?”

“I… poured a drink all over a nasty clerk after he displayed terrible customer service and insulted Marcie then walked out before he could do anything.” Velma smiled sheepishly as Daphne laughed. “It was not one of my finer moments, but I don’t regret doing it.”

“What did he look like? I mean, if he’s not here, I’d risk coming in.”

“Big tough guy with curly red hair.”

Daphne scanned the shop then grinned at her friend. “Looks like the coast is clear; come on in.”

Velma didn’t need any more convincing to enter the store. She made her way to the back of the story where repairs happened, while Daphne was waylaid by a display of purple gadgets. Marcie wasn’t manning the repair counter, but it wasn’t Red either, so Velma felt comfortable asking if her friend was around.

”Gee, I don’t know,” the clerk said, scratching his head. “Marcie’s shift just ended, so she might still be around, but she might have left already. She doesn’t actually talk to me unless it’s directly work related.”

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could you check to see if she’s still around?” Velma asked. “I was hoping to get her help with something.”

“I, Gibby Norton, can take care of all your problems for you, Miss,” he promised, leaning on the counter and waggling his eyebrows in what he obviously thought was a sexy manner. Velma took a step back. “So, what do you need besides my phone number?”

“I just need to know when Marcie’s next shift is. I can wait until then. Thanks,” Velma said, slowly inching away from him. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Daphne was still absorbed in comparing decorative phone cases. “Daphne! Marcie’s gone for the day. We should go.”

“Oh wait, don’t go,” he begged. “Let me check in back.” Then he rushed to the back.

“Hey, what’s up?” Daphne asked upon arriving at her side.

“This guy gives me the creeps, but he’s checking in back to see if Marcie’s still here,” Velma explained. “I think we should leave if she’s already gone.”

“Totally,” Daphne agreed. “Always trust your gut on these things.”

Luckily they didn’t have to wait long. Before Marcie came into view Velma could hear her complaining loudly as Gibby brought over. A grin spread over her face the moment Marcie came into view and the techie stopped berating her coworker when they locked eyes.

“Nothing going on, eh?” Daphne asked, lightly elbowing Velma.

“Hey Marcie,” Velma greeted her. “I know it’s after your shift, but I was wondering if you could help us out with something. Otherwise Daphne can come back some other time.”

“Daphne,” Marcie frowned, noticing the other girl for the first time.

“Yeah, she’s a good friend of mine. She’s having phone trouble.”

“We’re just friends,” Daphne added. “I have a boyfriend.”

“She doesn’t care about, Fred, Daph.” Velma glared at her best friend. “No one cares that you and Fred are dating.”

“I think she cares, Velma,” Daphne replied, “though not for the reason most people want to know.”

“Can I see the phone?” Marcie hastily asked, butting in between the girls. Daphne dug around in her purse, pulled out a few bags of odds and ends, and then handed over her phone. “What’s the problem?”

“It’s not holding a charge. Or at least, it’s not charging?” Daphne said, trying to explain. “I’ve tried a couple of different cords, none of which solve the problem. It’s having a hard time connecting. For a while a rubber band fixed the issue, but that’s not working any more.”

“I see.” Marcie pulled a penlight out of her sweater pocket and shone its light in the phone’s port. She made a pleased noise then put the penlight away. Picking up a paperclip, Marcie unfolded one end, then stuck it into the phone’s charging port and twisted it around.

“What are you doing?” Daphne demanded, freaking out. “You’re not supposed to put anything in there!”

“Lint, dust and other debris build up in these slots from riding around in pockets or purses all day,” Marcie explained. Sure enough a couple balls of fuzz fell from the bottom of Daphne’s phone. “When it gets bad enough it causes connection issues. Then you gotta clean it out. Here. It’s fixed.”

Daphne nervously took her phone back and plugged it into her charger. It immediately lit up to show it was charging, but had no actual power yet. She laughed and Velma beamed at the techie.

“Thanks Marcie,” Velma said. “What do we owe you?”

“Nothing,” Marcie shrugged. “It was literally thirty seconds off the clock.”

“Velma, why don’t you give me your phone number?” Gibby said. “After all, I brought Marcie to you. Plus, I can service all your future technical needs, no problem.”

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” Daphne said.

“Have you lost your mind?” Velma demanded. However, Daphne ignored her and wrote a number on slip of paper before passing it to Marcie, who accepted it, but didn’t look thrilled.

“That’s Velma’s number,” Daphne explained. “Since she’s the one everyone in our house goes to for help before looking for an outside source, I figure she’d be your main contact for us.”

“Thanks,” Marcie smiled, pocketing the number. 

“I thought you were giving it to me!” Gibby whined.

“Well, you didn’t fix my problem and she did,” Daphne shot back. She looked at her slightly charged phone and winced. “Oh drat, I’m late to meet Freddy. We’ll have to get coffee some other time.”

“Did the phone restart affect your memory?” Velma asked. They had just spent an hour in a coffee shop. She wouldn’t need another cup for at least a few more hours.

“It must have because I totally spaced. Sorry, gotta go,” Daphne said before mouthing ‘trust me’ at Velma. Then she trotted away as quickly as her high heels could carry her.

“I could use some coffee,” Marcie said.

“Me too!” Gibby added.

“You’re not invited and you’re on the clock! Butt out!” Marcie snapped. Gibby cowered behind the counter.

“Sure,” Velma said, the gears in her brain slowly sliding things into place. She should have realized what Daphne was doing sooner, but she couldn’t believe her best friend was actually playing matchmaker with someone Velma could theoretically be interested in. Daphne had a bad habit of assuming everyone wanted someone exactly like Fred. That had led both Velma and Shaggy into have some terrible blind dates. “I owe you a cup.”

“Great,” Marcie grinned.

She grabbed Velma’s arm then let go immediately, giving her an apologetic smile as if she hadn’t meant to do that. Velma gently put Marcie’s hand back on the crook of her elbow. Beaming they left the shop together. Velma had a pretty good feeling that by the end of this coffee date she’d have Marcie’s number as well.

IV.

“Fred, like, get us down!” Shaggy shouted. Scooby howled in agreement. They hung upside down in a steel net, which swayed back and forth gently above the backdoor.

“Okay guys, just hold on a second,” Fred said. He pulled a laptop out of his backpack and opened it. “Soon as I log in I’ll hit the release command and the trap’ll automatically reset itself. Pretty cool, huh?”

“Just get them down please,” Velma sighed.

“Huh, that’s funny. This thing is running slower than usual,” Fred muttered. He typed his password in three times before the machine finally accepted it. When the desktop finally appeared it abruptly pixilated funnily and then he couldn’t open any of his files or programs. Fred scratched his head. “Gee, this is weird. Nothing’s working.”

“I think you might have a virus, Freddy,” Daphne said. “Have you updated your anti-malware recently?”

“What’s that?”

“Oh, Fred.” Daphne gently shut her boyfriend’s Destroido computer. “Velma, can you call your friend and see if she can fix this thing? It’s gonna take Fred all night to get the guys out of that trap and I doubt they want to wait that long.”

“Sure,” Velma said, picking up the computer. “Jinkies, if this is a virus, it might affect the programming for some of Fred’s other traps and then we’d be in a real jam when they go haywire.”

“Hey! My traps are perfect,” Fred protested as he hauled himself up onto the netting of the sprung trap.

“Your traps are a menace to society and I don’t want to be stuck in one,” Velma flatly responded. She pulled out her phone and dialed Marcie. As soon as the other girl picked up she asked, “You working tonight?”

“Naw, I’m in the middle of a Crypts and Creatures campaign with some friends,” Marcie responded. “What’s up? I’m fairly certain we didn’t have plans tonight.”

“I’ve got a minor computer emergency on my hands. Don’t worry, my thesis is safe,” Velma said.

“I’m beginning to think you only contact me when you need my help,” Marcie said.

“I’m sorry. Go back to your game. I’ll take Fred’s computer to the shop and hope they can fix it before anyone else gets caught in one of his traps.”

“Seriously V? You’d rather deal with Red and Gibby tonight, neither of whom can fix a computer half as well as I can, than come see me?”

“Don’t be an idiot, Marce, of course I’d rather see you. Only reason I suggested it was because it sounded like you didn’t want to do it and I want to preserve our friendship. You’re more than just my personal techie.”

“I like being your techie,” Marcie whispered.

“I like it too,” Velma agreed.

“Hey Velma, could you, like, flirt on the way to Marcie’s?” Shaggy asked. His face had turned a dark shade of red. She was fairly certain there was too much blood going to his head. “Scoob and I don’t feel that great and we’d, like, like to get down.”

“Daphne, can you fetch me the hack saw? Maybe the blow torch as well,” Fred said. “I don’t know if we’ve got anything on hand that can cut through this netting, but maybe I can cut the support structure out of the ceiling to get Shaggy and Scooby free.”

“On it,” Daphne said, racing away.

Velma left before becoming witness to Fred destroying the return on their safety deposit. She entered Marcie’s dorm when a student leaving held the door for her, despite the fact she didn’t live in the building, nor knew him personally. Inside, she located Marcie not in her room, but rather in a common room on the ground floor. She was sitting at a table with a few other students and beamed when she spotted Velma.

“Hey, welcome Velma,” Marcie said, motioning her over to an empty chair. Velma sat down and passed her Fred’s laptop. As soon as she opened the computer she groaned. “What the heck happened to this thing?”

“Fred spends a lot of time on trap sites and believes the security software the computer came with is good enough,” Velma explained.

“But the system’s designed with the expectation of regular security updates!”

“Try telling that to the man who uses ‘Trappin’ Guy’ as his password,” Velma said, rolling her eyes. “Can you do anything to fix it? I wouldn’t care, except Shaggy and Scooby are trapped on our kitchen ceiling.”

“Say no more,” Marcie sighed. “I’ll see what I can do, but this is gonna take awhile.”

“Thank you,” Velma said. She picked up Marcie’s character sheet and started reading it, since there was nothing else for her to do while she waited.

“So you’re bailing?” a blonde in spectacles demanded. “Jinkers, Marcie, I thought you cared more about your Entwife and the campaign you’ve been championing with Mark and Ricky for the last four months.”

“Don’t give me that BS, Verona,” Marcie growled. She ignored the scowl on her friend’s face in favor of rapidly typing on Fred’s computer. “We’ve been playing for hours and were going to break for a little while anyway.”

“We hadn’t officially stopped yet, so roll if you want to save your companions from the piranha pits,” Verona snapped. Scowling, Marcie grabbed and hurled the twenty-sided die, which eventually landed with the one facing up. “Ha! A natural one. Morgan the Elf Monk and Griptorn the Dwarf Bard are stripped of their meaty bits in seconds after the Entwife falls, snapping all her twigs!”

“Actually,” Velma began, “Marcie’s Entwife has the skill Inverted Peril, which turns any natural one into a natural twenty. I don’t play Crypts and Creatures, but I imagine that means she saved them?”

“It does,” Marcie agreed. “The skill only works when I remember I have it, which means that when the Entwife fell she stick her roots into the ground and grew them into the piranha pits, whereupon they sucked up all the water for expedited photosynthesis and respiration. Deprived of their water, the piranhas all die, while the Entwife grows to fifty feet tall and she not only saves Morgan and Gripton, but carries them out of the Death Jungle to safety.”

“And with that I need a string cheese break,” Ricky announces, rising from the table.

“Me too,” Mark said, following him out of the room.

“I hope you’re happy,” Verona scowled, glaring at Velma. “You just ruined a perfectly good evening of fun.”

“If a single roll could ruin an entire evening’s worth of gaming, I think you need to rethink your strategy,” Velma said. “Why don’t you retool things while Marcie fixes Fred’s computer? That’d be a good use of your time.”

“Fine,” Verona huffed. She licked her lips and asked in a less hostile tone, “How did you know about Inverted Peril? Marcie only writes down skill names to save space.”

“My buddies love this stuff and normally play the online version. However, we don’t have internet access on our road trips, so I’ve run a modified version of C&C for them on the last three trips,” Velma explained. “Couldn’t figure out how to do that without reading the rules.”

“You’re a dungeon master?”

“I’m a van master, which means less dice and other tokens, since we don’t want to lose them in the Mystery Machine,” Velma explained. “It’s fun, but things get awkward when I’m trying to story tell and navigate. Fred once thought my game map was Nebraska and got us even more hopelessly lost than usual.”

“Would you like to play?” Verona asked. “It’d be nice to have a little more going on than just cat and mouse between Marcie and me.”

“Umm.” Velma didn’t know how to respond to the offer.

“It’d be fun,” Marcie grinned. “Verona can help you whip up a character while I finish sorting this virus junk out. Then you can have a cool introduction as soon as we resume.”

“Okay,” Velma agreed. There wasn’t anything better for her to do.

It took the better part of an hour for Marcie to finally break open Fred’s virus riddled system enough to get his traps released. Daphne called the moment it happened to let Velma know the boys were in a tangled, but safe, heap on the floor. At that news Marcie set the laptop aside, declaring that it needed proper purging that she wasn’t dealing with on her night off, which was completely reasonable. As Mark and Ricky had returned with string cheese and Chinese in hand for the group, Verona resumed the campaign. Velma felt a little nervous joining the game as a player, but the look of delight on Marcie’s face when her werewolf necromancer appeared told her she had made the right choice.

V. 

“Nooo!” Shaggy shouted loudly enough to draw everyone in the house to his room.

Fred, Daphne, and Velma barreled into the room to find Shaggy sobbing over his beloved Swordfish gaming console. Scooby was gently rubbing his back and murmuring soothing nothings to the despairing man, but it didn’t seem to be helping. Since there wasn’t any blood, fire, or guy in a monster suit, Velma readjusted her alertness levels from emergency to mild inconvenience. After all, Shaggy had always been prone to hysterics.

“What’s wrong, Shag?” Fred asked, kneeling down beside him.

“Just look!” Shaggy sobbed.

“Your video game system looks just fine to me,” Daphne said. “I assume it’s supposed to be blinking green like that? Because usually it’s red or orange lights that are bad.”

“It’s got Salmon Run! That’s like, the worse glitch the Swordfish can get,” Shaggy explained, gesturing wildly at his gaming console.

“The machine’s a Swordfish, but the glitch is called Salmon Run,” Velma said flatly.

“Yeah, and it’s, like, the worse. Watch.” To demonstrate Shaggy clicked on several different programs in rapid succession. After two seconds of activity, less than it took to fully open the browser or any of the games he selected, he was back on the system’s home screen. “No matter how quickly or far down a rabbit hole you go, the system automatically reroutes you back to home in less than a minute. It’s like, salmon migrating home, which is how the glitch got its name. Makes everything totally unplayable.”

“I see,” Velma said, now understanding the situation. “I have to admit this is a more serious problem than I initially thought.”

Shaggy started whimpering again. Scooby patted his shoulder again and licked his cheek. “Don’t worry, Shaggy, Velma will fix it.”

“Umm…”

“Right?” Scooby growled, momentarily glaring at her before returning his attention to Shaggy. “Velma’s girlfriend can fix any techie problem.”

“Guys, she’s not my girlfriend,” Velma began, but before she could explain the situation Fred latched onto the idea as well.

“That’s a great idea, Scooby,” Fred agreed. “Velma’s girlfriend is a computer whiz and I bet she could whip up a cure for your Swordfish in seconds.”

“We’ve only hung out a few times and I don’t even know if she likes women,” Velma continued, though she knew her words fell on deaf ears, “much less me.”

“Velma, why don’t you call your girlfriend right now?” Fred suggested.

“She’s not my girlfriend!”

“Sure she is. She’s a girl and your friend, ergo she’s your girlfriend.”

“Freddy,” Daphne cut in, laying a hand on her boyfriend’s shoulder before Velma lost her temper. “Would you call me Velma’s girlfriend?”

“No, because you’re my girlfriend… oh.”

“Exactly,” Daphne smiled. She turned to Velma. “Do you have any indication she likes me? Or that she’s not into you?”

“Don’t you think it a little presumptuous to assume she’d be into me just because I like her?” Velma asked hotly. “No one’s ever shown that sort of interest in me before—excluding creepy geek guys who have never carried out actual conversations with women—and the last time I did that with a boy, who ought to have been a better bet than Marcie, I got burned.”

“One failed attempt means you’re done with dating? Velma, I’m disappointed in you. That’s not how it works, that’s not even how science works and you model everything on that! You need to go back to the drawing board and reevaluate your techniques and choices. Keep making improvements and fine tuning things until you get your man, or in this case, woman.”

“I’d really rather not.”

“You’re interested in her, right? Because if not, I’ll drop it.” Daphne waited until Velma nodded glumly. “See, I’ve seen the way she looks at you and I can guarantee Marcie’s into you. Trust me on this.”

“Where’s your proof?” Velma snapped defensively.

“Call her. Explain the situation and ask her to come over. If she’s as into you as I know she is, she’ll drop everything to come help you out. She’ll do it because she wants to impress you and make you like her.”

“Fine,” Velma said, feeling more cornered and defeated than her friends ever ought to make her feel. Even Shaggy watched in interest as she pulled out her phone. “I’ll call, but she’s probably busy.”

“Sure,” Daphne grinned. Feeling foolish more than anything else Velma called her friend.

Marcie picked up on the second ring and sounded delighted to hear from her. “Hey V, how are things shaking? We’re still on for tomorrow night’s astronomy symposium, right? Because I made reservations at your favorite Indian place beforehand.”

“Not so great,” Velma replied, suddenly thankful she didn’t put the call on speaker. While the others knew she was going to the astronomy symposium, she hadn’t mentioned she was going with Marcie. Mostly because she hadn’t wanted Daphne taking it out of context, like she had every other time she did anything with Marcie of late. “Have you ever heard of Salmon Run?”

“I assume you’re talking about the software issue and not fish migration.”

“Yeah, it’s happened to our Swordfish.” Velma shifted, keenly aware that her four friends were staring at her. “Do you have any idea how to fix it?”

“There isn’t a fix. Destroido has a replacement policy, if you bought the insurance, but anything on the affected system is toast.”

“Ouch,” Velma winced. Shaggy and Scooby never backed anything up. All of their files were history.

“What did she say?” Scooby asked. Shaggy clutched his paw. Velma just shook her head, which made both of them sag.

“Did you guys get insurance?” Marcie asked.

“Let me check,” Velma said. She pulled the phone away from her ear. “Shag, did you get insurance when you bought Swordfish?”

“No, like, it never does any good, so Scoob and I got _Vincent Van Ghoul’s Escape from Zombie Asylum_ instead,” Shaggy explained.

“Oh Shag, you always get the insurance, if for no other reason than the item in question then won’t have problems its insured against,” Velma sighed. She held her phone up to her ear again. “No, he didn’t get it.”

“Then he’s gonna have to buy his own replacement,” Marcie said. “I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Do you want me to come over? Maybe I could do something? I mean, without insurance it doesn’t matter if I void any terms of service on a busted Destroido system.”

“I’d love any help you can give. Come over as soon as possible,” Velma said. While the boys didn’t know what Marcie said, they’d caught the gist from Velma’s body language and were both weeping now.

Marcie came over faster than Shaggy’s misery pizza could be delivered and he had ordered it before Velma made her call. Daphne let her in, but Velma arrived before she could say anything embarrassing or potentially damaging to her relationship with Marcie and ushered her up to Shaggy’s room. From an outside perspective everything was weird enough about the gang as it was. Velma certainly didn’t need Marcie thinking she needed help attracting dates, even if that was technically true.

Shaggy looked up hopefully when they came in, but his spirits visibly dropped when it became clear they weren’t carrying food. Still, he moved out of the way when requested so that Marcie could get at the Swordfish system. She ran several wires from the console to her laptop and after getting Shaggy’s username and password—which were nothing like Fred’s and actually slightly impressed Velma—typed rapidly. While the TV still showed Swordfish’s home screen, Marcie’s laptop revealed something that looked like it belonged in the opening credits of _The Matrix_.

“This is going to take a while and likely I won’t be able to salvage much,” Marcie said. Without pausing her hands she rolled her neck around to stretch it out.

“Anything’s better than nothing,” Velma said logically. She smiled at her friend. “More importantly, thanks Marce. You’re putting in a lot of effort and I know this wasn’t how you planned to spend your Friday night. This means a lot to me. To my friends too.”

“Aww V, this is exactly where I want to be,” Marcie smiled, briefly focusing her attention on Velma. “Oh! This looks interesting…”

However, when Velma asked what was so interesting Marcie didn’t respond. She was too intently focused on her screen, which Velma couldn’t follow without some sort of guidance. Her computer skills simply weren’t up to snuff. After an hour of watching Marcie do whatever she was doing—surely something completely riveting to do, but utterly boring to watch—she decided to get them drinks. A quick trip downstairs and Velma found the rest of the gang watching a movie in the den. However, Daphne moved to the kitchen when she spotted Velma.

“So, how’s it going?” Daphne asked.

“Fine,” Velma said, shutting the fridge. “Marcie is engrossed in her work and might be able to save some of Shaggy’s stuff.”

“I meant about you two.”

“There’s nothing there, Daphne. I doubt Marcie even likes women; most women don’t.”

“For a detective you’re oblivious when it comes to romance. She is totally into you. I mean, jeepers Velma, Marcie dropped everything to salvage corrupted data off a Swordfish for you. She wants into your skirt, my friend.”

“Marcie likes challenges.”

“Then you’re the best one she’s come across because you were not issued with the standard lesbian gaydar.”

“Okay, first gaydar isn’t real and second I’m bisexual.”

“Gaydar is real, Velma and mine’s finely calibrated,” Daphne said. She fluffed her red locks. “It’s the hair. Gives me the superpowers fashion sense, bargain hunting, and gaydar.”

“Whatever you say,” Velma laughed, retreating upstairs. This was one argument she wasn’t going to win. Daphne was too stubborn.

Despite the caffeinated beverages, Velma eventually fell asleep watching Marcie work. It was just so boring sitting there doing nothing and the fact Marcie did occasionally talk to herself or have a random outburst meant Velma couldn’t get into her reading. She was startled awake when Marcie shouted.

“What’s happening?” Velma asked, sitting up and trying to get her bearings. They were alone in Shaggy’s room and it appeared to be just before dawn.

“I think I fixed it!” Marcie laughed. She clicked on Shaggy’s copy of Battle Quest, which seamlessly launched. After two minutes it was still in the game. “I was able to check my email and play a round of solitaire. Nobody’s solved Salmon Run before. I’m gonna be famous!”

“Jinkies, Marcie, that’s amazing! I could kiss you,” Velma said without thinking. If she hadn’t just woken up her internal filter would have been on and she would have at least considered her words. Instead she cringed as Marcie slowly looked at her.

“Then why don’t you?” Marcie asked.

“Are you interested in me kissing you?”

“Umm yeah. You’re smart, funny, and smoking hot.”

“I… think you need to get your glasses checked. Nobody calls me attractive. Not ever.”

“I’m surprised all these blind people you’ve been hanging around haven’t stumbled into traffic yet,” Marcie scowled. She adjusted her glasses. “Velma, you’re absolutely stunning!”

For the first time in her life Velma was speechless. Misunderstanding Velma’s silence, Marcie’s shoulders slumped and she quietly packed up her things. Then she rose to her feet and headed to the door. Ruefully she smiled at Velma over her shoulder.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you’re not interested in me. No one ever is. Maybe we can still be friends. I’ll see myself out.”

“Marcie wait!” Velma called, scrambling to her feet. 

She rushed her, certain that if she didn’t act now she’d lose her chance, but completely unsure what her action should be. Velma had always been more of a thinker than a doer. They hit the wall on the opposite side of the hall. Velma grabbed Marcie’s wrist then froze, staring up into the taller girl’s face. Marcie stared back at her with hope and Velma knew she had to get the words right.

“Please don’t go,” Velma whispered. “I like you a lot and I have ever since you rescued my thesis.”

“How’s that coming along?” Marcie asked vaguely.

“I submitted it today.” Velma glanced out a window at the rising sun. “Yesterday.”

“Great.”

“Yeah.”

“So, can I kiss you?”

Velma pulled her down into a kiss for her answer. While this was not her first kiss, this had to be the best one Velma participated in. Probably because for the first time in her life her partner seemed just as enthused about kissing her as she was about kissing them. They locked lips in the hall until fumbling hands and shifting feet nearly sent Velma tumbling down the stairs. Luckily, between the banister and Marcie’s suddenly firm grip around her waist Velma avoided the header.

“I guess that means we need to stop before one of us suffers serious injury,” Marcie said remorsefully.

“Or we could just relocate. My room’s just down the hall,” Velma offered. Marcie beamed. “And frankly, after the all nighter you just pulled, you should stay for breakfast. We can make omelets.”

“I’d like that,” Marcie said. So that’s just what they did.

VI.

“Shaggy help,” Scooby whined. He pawed his phone as his best bud came over to assist him. “I can’t order pizza online.”

“Looks like you don’t have any signals,” Shaggy said, scratching his chin. He twisted the phone back and forth as if that would reveal something. “No bars or dots for phone service or Wi-Fi. Guess we’ll have to take it in for service.”

“Before you take it in let me see if I can fix it,” Velma said, plucking the phone out of her friend’s hands. She held down a few buttons, turned the phone off, and then restarted it. “Okay, turn it back on and see what happens.”

Scooby gingerly retrieved the phone. He turned it on and imputed his password with a swipe of his paw. To his amazement he had full signal. Tail wagging, Scooby leaned over and eagerly licked Velma’s face in thanks. After a moment she pushed the Great Dane off.

“Zoinks, how’d you do that?” Shaggy asked.

“Oh you know, most of the time when something goes wrong with an electronic you should turn it off and on to see if that fixes the problem. For simple stuff that usually does the trick,” Velma explained, smiling brightly.

“Do you want any pizza?” Scooby asked, already dialing his favorite pizza shop.”

“If you could order a large gluten free Hawaiian, that’d be great,” Velma said.

“No problem, Velmster,” Shaggy said. “We’ll let you know when it arrives.”

“Great. Just be sure to knock,” Velma grinned, before heading up the stairs.

When she got to her room Velma found Marcie sprawled across her bed. Velma’s shiny new Quest laptop sat on her desk with her external hard drive sitting next to it with a cable running between them. The women grinned when their eyes met.

“I just finished setting things up. It’ll take a few hours for everything to transfer, but you’ll have everything from your old computer on your new computer,” Marcie said. She pulled her own laptop out of her messenger bag and set it on the bed. “In the meantime I thought we could watch Netflix and chill.”

“Great. Shaggy and Scooby were ordering pizza, so I had them get us one too,” Velma said. Marcie murmured her approval.

She leaned in and kissed Marcie before taking her power cord and plugging it in beside her own. Then Velma vaulted herself over Marcie into the free space on her bed. She nestled up to her girlfriend as the big spoon and stuck her chin into Marcie’s shoulder.  
“Your chin is pointy,” Marcie complained as she launched Netflix.

“Yours is pointier,” Velma pointed out. Marcie didn’t reply since it was true and instead asked what she wanted to watch. Velma shrugged. “Something we’ve seen before? That way if we get distracted, like when the pizza gets here, it won’t be a big deal if we miss it.”

So Marcie put on _Xena: Warrior Princess_. Of course Shaggy forgot to knock when he brought their pizza up, but luckily Velma heard the bell when it arrived so they weren’t caught totally unaware and had a good laugh after he left. Honestly, dating Marcie was better than anything Velma had imagined. They were alike enough to have similar tastes, but Marcie processed things differently enough Velma was always pleasantly surprised by her insight. Plus, it was an absurdly nice change of pace to be liked for being exactly who she was. Velma wouldn’t change a thing about Marcie. With pizza in hand the pair settled in for a pleasant afternoon at home.


End file.
